This thesis investigates the effects of rangeland management systems on savanna ecosystems under different environmental conditions in Botswana, Southern Africa. The soil sampling and vegetation assessment were conducted in twenty–three transects located in communal and ranching grazing lands across three sites. Pastoralists were also interviewed on vegetation change on their respective grazing lands. Soil texture, pH, bulk density and soil organic carbon differed between sites, but not between communal and ranching lands. Soil organic carbon was positively affected by soil clay content. The herbaceous vegetation composition showed heterogeneity between sites, but Matlolakgang and Xanagas rangelands were in poor condition, particularly the communal grazing land that had high cover of increasers II species. Higher herbaceous biomass was observed in ranches than communal lands and biomass also increased with increasing soil organic carbon. Bush encroachment was observed in communal and ranching grazing lands at Matlolakgang and Xanagas, but not Goodhope. Woody plant cover, density and diversity increased with decline in soil clay content, but not linearly. Pastoralists indicated that herbaceous vegetation compositions had changed in some areas, with increase of unpalatable grass species and bush encroachment especially in communal land. Pastoralists considered bush encroachment a problem as it suppress herbaceous vegetation productivity, but they also considered woody vegetation as a valuable grazing resource. The long-term indicators of ecosystem degradation (soil and woody cover) showed that communal and ranching grazing did not affect the savanna ecosystem differently. This is contrary to assumptions of Tribal Grazing Land Policy of Botswana, which promote ranching as a more sustainable management system. The results revealed that rainfall and soil clay strongly influence rangeland condition. These results have implications for the management policies of communal grazing lands throughout sub-Saharan Africa and in similar arid habitats across the world.

The marriage custom of charivari/shivaree evolved from a punitive form of social control in Europe and Great Britain, to a raucous American celebration that welcomed newlyweds into a community. The isolated ranching community of Park Valley, Utah performed their own unique version of shivaree. This investigation of their ritualized tradition began with a review of the cultural landscape combined with the contemporary rural society that forms a community-clan who descends from six pioneer families. The existing community outlived mining and railroad towns that originally populated the area. The surviving Mormon culture is reflected in the value and belief structure of its people and, therefore, their social activities. This context built a foundation for interpreting the function of the community's shivarees. Twenty-five primary interviews provided seven case studies, which structured the argument that their impromptu performances went beyond just offering a hand of welcome; their shivarees, performed after the formal marriage festivities, functioned as a complex rite of passage. Ritualized traditions like kidnapping the bride and groom, wearing crazy get-ups, and breaking bread together codified the relationships that bound their society together. In all cases, at least one member of the newly married couple was an insider of the community - they belonged to the community clan. The impromptu performance was organized using local resources as the newlyweds were moved from the sacred to secular sphere, creating a liminal period where social norms were tested, before the final rite of passage. Park Valley shivarees transitioned them into their new social position as contributing members of this insular society; it was an informal rite of acceptance.

Ideals of freedom, independence, and land ownership helped form and perpetuate the mythology of ranching in the United States. However, stereotypes emerged as a result of distortion from the media and the move away from the land. Social philosophies changed regarding the environment, land use, and the health and safety of the food supply in the late 20th century. In relation to the mythology, stereotype, and social theory regarding the ranching culture, this research seeks to clarify the fundamental principles, business philosophy, lifestyle, and values of men and women raising beef as a food product on both public and private lands in the 1990's. The mythology surrounding ranchers and cowboys are the result of three historical periods in the United States; however, the last 100 years have had the most profound effect in developing stereotypes. In this survey, 42 ranchers in Lake County, Oregon and Modoc County, California describe the challenges, satisfactions, and the partnership with Nature that is part of their livelihood in the harsh, high desert environment of eastern Oregon and northeastern California. The low ratio of private ground in these counties creates a dependency on use of public lands for grazing. This use if often stereotyped as "welfare ranching," without computation for other variables that make it comparable with private leasing. Historically, the Taylor Grazing Act authorizes fee grazing between ranchers and the U.S. government, but current philosophy has shifted its view of free enterprise on public lands, terming it "resource extraction." Although ranching is high in risk and low in economic return, ranchers stay in the business because they value freedom, hard work, family cohesiveness, and the interaction with Nature and the land. The future of ranching is challenged by environmental policy, government agency relations, public opinion, the high cost of land and production, and a lack of unity in the beef industry. To survive, ranchers need to unify, sharpen communication skills, provide education about ranching practices to the public, and become service-oriented as an organization to change stereotype and meet the social criteria of the next century. / Graduation date: 1998

How did the Native South become the Deep South within the span of a single generation? This dissertation argues that these ostensibly separate societies were in fact one and the same for several decades. It significantly revises the history of the origins of antebellum America’s slave-based economy and shows that the emergence of a plantation society in Alabama and Mississippi was in large part a grassroots phenomenon forged by Indians and other native inhabitants as much as by Anglo-American migrants. This native transformation occurred because of a combination of weak European colonial regimes, the rise of cattle, cotton, and chattel slavery in the region, and the increasingly complex ethnic and racial geography of the Gulf South. Inhabitants of the Gulf South between the American Revolution and Indian removal occupied a racial and social milieu that was not distinctly Indian, African, or European. Nor can it be adequately defined by hybridity. Instead, Gulf southerners constructed something unique. Indians and native non-Indians—white and black—owned ranches and plantations, employed slave labor, and pioneered the infrastructure for cotton production and transportation. Scotsmen and Spaniards married Indians and embraced their matrilineal traditions. Anglo- and Afro-American migrants integrated into an emergent native cotton culture in which racial and cultural identities remained permeable and flexible. Thus, colonial and borderland-style interactions persisted well into the nineteenth century, even as the region grew ever more tightly bound to an expansionist United States. The history of the Gulf South offers a perfect opportunity to bridge the imagined divide between the colonial and early republic eras. Based on research in multiple archives across five states, my work thus alters our understanding of the history and people of an American region before the Civil War and reshapes our framework for interpreting the nature of racial and cultural formation over the long course of American history.

The construction of traditional large-scale central power plants and the extension of power lines in Taiwan have tremendous difficulties in terms of land acquisition and environmental protection for a long time. In addition, one potential risk of energy supply is that over 95% of energy source is imported overseas. Therefore, the most important goal of Taiwan energy policy is to cut down the amount of energy import. To achieve the goal, it is important to explore innovatively local energy source by developing renewable and clean energy. Around the available renewable energy technologies, wind power technique is the most mature one in addition to hydraulic power generation. However due to limited land resources and restrictive regulations, it is expected that wind farm development in Taiwan can only be located offshore, instead of inland. Besides, a multi-functional wind farm site, which involves ocean farm ranch, is desirable to bring mutual benefits for both developers and local stake holders. The current study has used System Dynamics(SD) to analyze the influence of Multi-functional offshore wind farm on economic. We discuss the change of fish catch with building offshore wind farm¡Aand the change of economic output in open ocean with offshore wind farm combine marine ranching. It is therefore easy for the decision makers to comprehend the economical benefit difference if an offshore multi-functional wind farm were to develop in the future. The result of this study is building offshore wind farm will reduced the fishing revenue in a short time¡Abut the total fishing revenue will increased in a long time. The Multi-functional offshore wind farm has better economic output than offshore wind farm.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Texas Christian University, 2006. / Title from dissertation title page (viewed Sept. 7, 2006). Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-07-29T15:32:05Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 DISSERTACAO_FANUEL_GEOG.pdf: 5225631 bytes, checksum: 17be1fcb54dcf706976140dca2f5dadb (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-03-27 / Cattle ranching is extremely important for the economy of Brazil. This activity is characterized by the intensive explotation of pastures, which occupy a vast area of the Brazilian territory, i.e. approximately 150 million hectares. Currently, Brazil is the largest meat exporter in the world. Concerning its biomes, this occupation occurs mainly in the Cerrado, where the 546.251 km² of area under utilization correspond to about 37% of the total pasture area in the country. Among the states encompassed within the Cerrado limits, Goiás has the largest pasture occupation, over 38.7% of its area. In addition, it has one of the largest livestock, with about 21.3 millions of heads, producing, on average, 600.000 tons of meat a year. Within this context, arises the concern with the quality of the Goias state pastures, since several studies show that a large portion of these pastures are already degraded (i.e. low capacity), with low cattle occupation. This study, based on remote sensing data, as well as on spatial and census data, aimed at evaluating the quality of the pastures in Goias through the estimation of the net primary productivity (NPP). The distribution of pastures in relation to soil types, cattle occupation at the municipality level, infra-structure and location of the meat processing plants were considered as well. The productivity estimations were based on the MOD13Q1 vegetation index images (EVI), for the 2001 2009 period. The analysis of pasture distribution were conducted through the intersection of the derived NPP and the ancillary data mentioned above. The main conclusions of our study are: a) the highest NPP values are found in the central, southeast and extreme northeastern portions of Goias; b) the highest NPP values are related to the following soils: argissolos, cambissolos, neossolos and latossolos (Oxisols), respectively; c) the average cattle occupation in the Cerrado in Goias is usually low, around 1,07 heads per hectare; d) there are several municipalities (major cattle producers) which have the totality of their pastures severely degraded; e) there is no strict correlation between the location of meat processing plants and quality of pastures, as well as cattle occupation. Thus, the monitoring of pasture quality and the analysis of correlated factors are of great importance, as cattle ranching are responsible for the largest occupation of the Cerrado in Goias e for most of the wealth in the state. / A pecuária é uma atividade extremamente importante para a economia do Brasil. Essa atividade se caracteriza pela exploração extensiva das pastagens, ocupando vasta área do território, aproximadamente 150 milhões de hectares. Atualmente, o Brasil é o maior exportador de carne bovina no mundo. Em relação aos biomas brasileiros, essa ocupação ocorre principalmente no Cerrado, ocupando uma área de 546.251 km², o que representa cerca de 37% da área total de pastagens no país. Dentre os estados que compõem os limites do Cerrado, Goiás é o que possui maior ocupação por pastagens, com aproximadamente 38.7% de sua área. Além disso, tem um dos maiores rebanhos bovinos, com cerca de 21.3 milhões de cabeças de gado, produzindo em média, 600.000 toneladas de carne por ano. Diante desse contexto, surge a preocupação sobre a qualidade das pastagens cultivadas no estado de Goiás, uma vez que diversos estudos mostram que grandes partes dessas pastagens estão com algum nível de degradação (i.e. baixa capacidade de suporte) e baixa lotação bovina média. Esse estudo, baseado em dados de sensoriamento remoto orbital, bem como bases de dados espaciais e censitários, teve como objetivo avaliar a qualidade das pastagens em Goiás, a partir da estimativa de produtividade primária líquida da vegetação (NPP). A distribuição das pastagens em relação ao tipo de solo, lotação bovina por município, infra-estrutura e localização das plantas de processamento de carne foram considerados também. As estimativas de produtividade foram baseadas nas imagens MODIS13Q1 de índice de vegetação (EVI), para o período de 2001 - 2009. As análises da distribuição de pastagens foram conduzidas através da intersecção do NPP e os dados auxiliares mencionados acima. Os principais resultados desse trabalho são: a) os maiores valores de NPP são encontrados nas porções centrais, sudeste e extremo nordeste do estado de Goiás; b) os maiores índices de NPP estão associados aos seguintes solos: argissolos, cambissolos, neossolos e latossolos, respectivamente; c) a média de lotação bovina no Cerrado goiano em geral é baixa, gira em torno de 1,07 cabeças por hectares; d) há vários municípios (maiores produtores de gado) que estão com suas áreas de pastagens seriamente comprometidas; e) não há grandes correlações entre o local dos frigoríficos e a qualidade das pastagens, bem como a ocupação de gado. Assim, o monitoramento da qualidade das pastagens e a análise de fatores correlatos são de grande importância, pois a pecuária é responsável pela ocupação de maior parte do Cerrado goiano e geração de grandes riquezas para o estado.

This dissertation addresses the ecological changes that occurred in 19th century California due to Spanish Colonial and Mexican Period cattle ranching. Grasslands in particular are often depicted as having been rapidly invaded by exotic Old World grasses. In addition, cattle ranching and ecological change are thought to be a factor in the decision making of Native Californians to enter the Spanish missions. Wilder Ranch California State Park, formerly known as Rancho Refugio, is used as a case study to explore these issues. Originally established as a rancho of Mission Santa Cruz, Wilder Ranch remained an operating ranch until the 1970s, and thus provides an excellent venue to explore the long- term effects of cattle ranching. To analyze the rate and intensity of grassland change at Wilder Ranch, a combination of zooarchaeological analysis, archaeobotanical analysis, historical records, and agent based modeling is used. These lines of evidence together indicate that grasslands were altered by exotic grasses, but not at the rate and intensity that is often suggested. In addition, analysis of baptismal records from nearby Mission Santa Cruz indicate that most local Native Californians had joined the mission before cattle herds had grown much in size, and before extensive ecological change is expected to have occurred. Instead, a combination of drought and social network collapse seem more influential in the decision of local Native Californians to join the mission.

State officials, between 1882 and 1888, exchanged three million acres of Texas Panhandle property for construction of the monumental Capitol that continues to house Texas government today. The project and the land went to a Chicago syndicate led by men influential in business and politics. The red granite Austin State House is a recognizable symbol of Texas around the world. So too, the massive tract given in exchange for the building, what became the "fabulous" XIT Ranch, also has come to symbolize the height of the nineteenth century cattle industry. That eastern and foreign capital dominated the cattle business during this period is lesser known, absorbed by the mythology built around the Texas cattle-trail period - all but at an end in 1885. This study examines the interaction of Illinois Republicans and Texas Democrats in their actions and efforts to create what have become two of Texas's most treasured symbols.

Based on research showing the serious environmental damage associated with conventional aquaculture, coastal marine ranching has been promoted by the Chinese government as an ecological and environmentally friendly way to produce aquatic products and simultaneously restore the marine environment. However, marine ranching is a general concept and there are significant differences among the three main types. This study initially focuses on commercial marine ranching to distinguish it from other types by identifying its unique features, functions and goals. Examining institutional frameworks of commercial marine ranching operations reveals the evolving interactions and interrelations between key actors in the network. The analysis adopts a modified social network theory approach that incorporates Chinese guanxi culture in a case study of the White Dragon Islet marine ranching project to research commercial marine ranching in China. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to collect details from each group of key actors, including the private sector, government, and local communities. Key outcomes of the research include developing a better understanding of the types of marine ranching in China and important insights into changing relationships developed from acquaintance to intimacy and then to trustworthiness within the institutional framework of a successful commercial marine ranching project. The thesis concludes by highlighting key practical implications for government policy and for commercial marine ranching practitioners to improve the implementation of such operations in China. / Graduate